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Posted By Clore Social Leadership,
31 January 2017
Updated: 20 October 2020
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Crisis and Glasgow Homelessness Network have announced their intention to create a new dedicated body that is sector-led (by homelessness specialists from charities, government, research bodies and others) to improve the lives of people affected by homelessness by instigating a shift in resources to evidence-based solutions. As part of her Clore Social Leadership fellowship, Ligia Teixeira explains why.
For the past few months I’ve been working on a project to build the case for a new Centre for Homelessness Impact. Today we release the feasibility study that is the culmination of an intense six-month project. It’s an exciting moment for us, and I wanted to explain why.
Since Crisis was created 50 years ago, we have used a variety of strategies to end homelessness, from campaigning and lobbying to delivering services directly, and producing evidence on the causes and consequences, latest trends, and the scale of the issue.
Things have changed significantly since the mid-1960s, when homelessness first made it into the national consciousness. But the pace of change has not kept up with wider scientific and technological developments. In fields like international development, early years, or education we’ve improved our understanding of what works by applying scientific methods and a culture shift towards evidence-based practices. If the homelessness sector is to accelerate progress towards a future without homelessness we must create new roadways.
One way to achieve this is by focusing on what works by finding and funding solutions backed by evidence and data. That’s a challenge. The evidence is often weak or lacking, and in the rare examples where a programme has been tested to see if it worked the results are often ignored.
That’s why we need a new organisation that is sector led and owned to help make the use of evidence the right thing to do – it becomes the ‘new normal’. To help ensure that our values aren’t only articulated in our efforts but in our outcomes. It’s a simple idea, but with the potential to make a significant impact.
We joined forces with Glasgow Homelessness Network, a like minded organisation, to explore the desirability and feasibility of the concept. We had hundreds of rich conversations over a six-month period with people working towards ending homelessness and change-makers championing evidence-based practice in other fields. We gained valuable insights that shaped our proposals and which we share in the report published today. We have been encouraged by the widespread support for the concept, and feel there’s a unique opportunity to make this vision a reality.
Why now? Because over recent years we’ve learned a few things about what it takes to tackle today’s toughest systemic challenges. That ending homelessness faster and more effectively requires a few important culture shifts. We need to:
- take a whole government approach and to break out of siloed service and policy practices. The homelessness sector alone cannot end homelessness. It requires putting the issue on the map in areas like education, health or criminal justice
- build capacity, and take an interdisciplinary, deeply collaborative approach. This is a challenge. Professionals need support to apply evidence in real-life scenarios and existing funding mechanisms are by and large promoting competition rather than a focus on personalised solutions and effectiveness
- directly fund interventions and programmes with the best evidence behind them, and take an experimental and human-centred approach to service development. To improve positive impact we need to be able to do the right things well.
- engage people affected by homelessness more effectively in all our efforts, bring their perspectives and experiences to the heart of policy and practice. Solutions that are grounded only on the experiences of professionals and ignore the user voice and evidence are no solutions at all
- engage people and their communities more effectively in our efforts to end homelessness. There is an education job to be done, in schools, universities, mainstream services, businesses and workplaces. There is a rich resource in this space that we’re currently not tapping into. We know from trends like the sharing economy that when individuals come together to drive towards a greater goal, we can gain traction on much bigger challenges , and find new ways forward.
This type of systems-change work requires agility, scale and networked organisations, both within and across different social policy areas. It requires commissioners, practitioners, researchers, campaigners as well as communities who work together and do not stand still.
With the new Centre, we’re hoping to start addressing some of these issues. We’re not naive, we know it won’t be a silver bullet. Other things will also need to happen - we need housing in the right places and at a price people can afford, and stable jobs that pay fair wages. We need to address the root causes of poverty and inequality, and protect our social safety net and strong (networked) local services.
But evidence-based approaches are an important part of the solution. It’s no surprise that currently there is public scepticism about the sector’s ability to end or even significantly reduce homelessness, or positively engage with people affected by homelessness who refuse ‘standard offers’ for help. Making policy and funding decisions based on the best possible evidence and holding mainstream services accountable will help restore confidence.
This is therefore a critical moment to consider what is needed to build on our international reputation for preventing and tackling homelessness. We think Scotland is the ideal place to begin. If the Centre for Homelessness Impact works here - Scotland has taken larger strides to end homelessness than most other countries, its rights-based and assets-based approach to homelessness is widely celebrated as progressive, inclusive and ground-breaking - it will provide a model for others to follow.
This study is just the beginning of a long journey but it does show that there is both a need and a demand for a new organisation. Funding is now being sought for the project, with a view to opening the new Centre later this year.
We’ve been working on these issues for 50 years, but this could be a turning-point. It’s time to apply our collective efforts to meet the challenges of a complex homelessness system that developed organically over the years. The system must be redrawn so that we are able to improve outcomes and make even better use of today’s resources and technological advances to achieve step change in how we prevent and tackle homelessness.
Crisis and GHN hope that the new Centre, by bringing everyone to the party who feels the same way, will make us faster, more effective, and able to ground our solutions in the needs and voices of people affected by the problem.
Please click here to download Ligia’s report which she prepared as Head of Research and Evaluation at Crisis and at a 2016 Clore Social Fellow, supported Oak Foundation.
Share your comments about this blog and the report below, or contact Ligia on Twitter. This article was originally published on Crisis.
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Posted By Clore Social Leadership,
26 August 2016
Updated: 14 October 2020
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Lígia Teixeira is Head of Research and Evaluation at Crisis, and our 2016 specialist housing and homelessness Fellow, supported by the Oak Foundation.
Last week’s long awaited report from the Communities and Local Government Committee makes a number pertinent observations, including a call for a new Government strategy. Against a background of rising homelessness in most parts of England, the time is right to consider where we go from here and to look elsewhere for inspiration. There is much to learn from the United States.
Proportionately homelessness is a much bigger problem in the US and the phenomenon began in the 1980s with growth in homelessness that had not been seen since the Great Depression. On a single night in January 2015, 564,708 people were experiencing homelessness. Evictions are a huge social issue and the criminalisation of homeless people is a widespread problem.
In 2000 the National Alliance to End Homelessness (the Alliance) published A Plan, Not a Dream: How to End Homelessness in Ten Years (NAEH, 2000) . It boldly argued that homelessness, which at the time was seen as an intractable social problem, could be ended. It laid out a path forward that employed data, prioritised prevention and permanent housing solutions, and encouraged the engagement of mainstream systems.
The release of the plan instigated a shift in the debate, the movement gained momentum and the issue quickly rose up the political agenda, even becoming a bi-partisan issue. Over time a movement to end homelessness emerged, with sense of shared commitment and of collaboration.
For over a decade now the number of people experiencing homelessness across the United States has been declining, and this was the case even throughout the recession (between 2007 and 2012 the number of chronically homeless people dropped by 19%). The job is far from complete, but for the first time since the 1970s the eradication of homelessness is a real possibility.
So what’s missing here in the UK? What can we learn from what is currently happening in the United States?
Five clear lessons have emerged from the US:
- A grand vision, and a willingness to ask difficult questions. The Alliance’s Ten Year Plan challenged perceived wisdom and triggered a cultural shift in the sector. The Bush and Obama Administrations built on the success of the revolutionary campaign, creating a Federal Strategy for Ending Homelessness, thus embracing the movement and accelerating progress.
- Collective commitment. A shared sense of commitment and collaboration is key and often wanting in the UK. At the Alliance’s annual conference in Washington DC a couple of weeks ago, Shaun Donovan - who until recently was Obama's Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) - compared the fight to end homelessness to the moon landing:
‘Together we launched out on moonshot on homelessness. And look how far we’ve come - nearly 30 cities and states have ended veteran homelessness. … Now many of you may say we still have a long way to go. And you’re right. But let’s not forget that we didn’t get to the moon overnight. That journey took three presidents and 21 space flights. Back then the New York Times described the moon landing as ‘the realisation of centuries of dreams, the fulfilment of a decade of striving, a triumph of modern technology and personal courage, the most dramatic demonstration of what we can do if we apply our minds and resources with single-minded determination. And that’s why everyone in this room is so vital to our effort: your dreams, your striving, your courage, your determination’.
- Measurable outcomes. From the start the Obama Administration in particular has focused on unlocking data and evidence to identify and implement effective strategies, so they could do more of what works and less of what does not. The problem at stake also needs to be well defined and the role of the homelessness sector within it. So for instance a more comprehensive view of homelessness prevention should place the onus of keeping people housed on mainstream services tasked with taking care of vulnerable groups. This requires better engagement with the education, social care, criminal justice, and health and mental health systems to prevent people being supported by them becoming homeless. Crucially, the homelessness sector to try to fill in the gaps as it could do more harm than good.
- Invest in solutions that have been proven to work. The George W. Bush Administration revolutionised how homelessness was dealt with the US - whatever the cause of homelessness, the solution is… a home. The idea was pioneered by New York University psychiatrist Sam Tsemberis: ‘Housing First’ turned conventional wisdom on its head. Despite the sceptics evidence prevailed - Housing First worked from the start and it worked fast. Ever since the early 2000s efforts have increasingly shifted to a focus on permanent housing solutions, such as permanent supportive housing and rapid re-housing. Since 2007 permanent supportive housing capacity has grown 69 percent.
- Broadening leadership. A plan or data is only good as the people that drive it forward. The turn towards a Housing First approach during the Bush Administration might not have happened had it not been for the then homelessness czar, Philip Mangano, who doggedly pursued the idea despite initial resistance and sector interests (the new approach threatened jobs and budgets across the country). In 2003, the US Conference of Mayors adopted a resolution in response to a call from Mangano - then at the helm of the US Interagency Council on Homelessness - who challenged 100 cities to initiate ten year plans to end chronic homelessness. By 2004, about 100 had initiated planning efforts and, by 2006, ninety ten-year plans to end homelessness were complete. Strong leadership is however needed at all levels, from front line work, managers and chief executive and trustees level.
The CLG report is right to call for a new Government strategy, and to call for a change in legislation to prevent homelessness, but the lessons from the US point us towards much higher ambitions. It is time for UK politicians to step up to their example.
This blog was originally posted on the Crisis website. You can apply for the 2017 Fellowship here - deadline 5 September 2016.
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